The Perfect Gift

This is a parable that I wrote for a talk that I was asked to give on Easter Sunday 2009.

There once was a young woman name Angela, she had a hart of gold. Angela would do anything for anyone, she was just that type of girl. But there was one person in particular that she liked to do even more for, her little sister Mandy. You see Mandy’s birthday was coming up and Angela really wanted to show her love for here sister. They shared a special bond you see, and Angela wanted Mandy to know that she was really special to her. After thinking long and hard about what she could do for her beloved sister, she settled on the idea of making her a hat. You see Mandy was quite fond of hats, she even had somewhat of a hat collection, large hats small hats, fancy hats and ball caps, Mandy loved them all. So Angela decided that she would make her the hat of all hats. Angela put all of her extra time and effort into making this wonderful hat, she even did extra chores around the house to earn enough money to buy the materials. She picked the perfect fabric, with the perfect floral pattern she knew that Mandy would just love. She even snuck into Mandy’s room one night to measure her head while she slept, so she could get it just right. Weeks went by while Angela worked in secret, all alone, which meant that there were many late nights, because that was the only time she had. The day finally came, it was Mandy’s birthday, Angela was brimming with excitement, she could hardly contain herself. Excitedly she gave Mandy her present, I hope you like it Angela said, opening the box (which Angela had picked to match the perfect hat, there was no detail that Angela left out) Mandy exclaimed, its so beautiful, after looking at it for a few seconds, Mandy placed it back in the box and moved on to the next present. Angela was disheartened, a few days went by and the box sat on the shelf, never opened, Angela was saddened. Weeks and months went by, Angela was devastated. Years went by, dust had gathered on the box so thick that you could no longer see the pattern that so wonderfully matched the fabric on the hat, Angela’s Heart broke. During those years the sisters grew apart, the two who were once so close were now almost strangers. The thought of the hat tore at Angela until she could bear it no more. One day she called Mandy, “I just have to know” she said “ why did you never wear the hat I made you, I worked so hard on that perfect hat, my heart was in that hat and you never wore it, why did you not like it ” . Silence was all there was on the other end of the line, then faintly, “it was so perfect, I didn’t want to ruin it, so I put it in the box and never opened it so it would not get destroyed I didn’t want to ruin something you had worked so hard on” Weeping, Angela said, “my sweet sister, I made it with the best materials, so you could never destroy it, I tailored it, so it would fit only you, my sweat and even some of my blood went into making that hat, not so it would be beautiful, but that you would be beautiful in it. I made it for you.” A moment of silence passed, one that seemed to last for eternity, then softly Angela whispered, ‘its not to late, your hat will still fit”

The gift is what we make of it, Christ has given us everything, all things tie into the atonement. It is the gospel, the good news. Christ lives, this day he lives, the atonement is real, it is possible for man to be at one with God through Christ, the question is, do we allow this precious gift, bought with his precious drops of blood, to sit on a shelf, forgotten, unused, or become at one with Him and the Father, Through his perfect gift.